Fire
Above
by C.H. MacLean
Publisher: CNH Publishing
Published: Apr. 13, 2015
ASIN: B00TVT5K24
Amazon
Synopsis:
I love her so much, I'd risk anything.
She and I don't have names. We're just slaves, after all. But our hearts
don't care, and we're lucky, we have a chance at a scrap of happiness in our
terrible lives. My father is the Queen's pet.
But when my love discovers the lords' newest atrocity, she lashes out,
does the unthinkable, and attacks one of them. Her courage is heroic, but now
they have stuffed her in prison, getting ready to slaughter her.
With nothing to lose, I dare to dream of a life far from the
lords. I fight for our freedom, and escape to the woods with my love. We can do
no less than free all of our people in the effort.
Our flight through the woods is only the start of our journey. The
lords’ flaming attacks, their deception, the loss of so many of my people—I
don't know if I will survive, or if I even want to. But for my love, I will do
almost anything, even battle the fire above.
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My Thoughts:
Fire Above is a love story about two nameless slaves who can never be together while they are enslaved by the lords: beings who can transform from human shape to giant beings with wings and horns. Their only hope for a life together is to escape.
Fire Above was captivating right from the beginning. I sat down to
read it and before I knew it, most of the day had sped by. I was amazed by the
number of twists and turns in the plot through betrayals, traps and a variety
of other methods.
I found it interesting that these two
lovers who eventually named themselves Run and Carer could "mind
speak" to each other, just as the lords could do. Run could also listen to
the thoughts of the lords and wall off part of his mind so that no one could
access those thoughts.
The lords had some amazing abilities
as well. They could throw fireballs and take control of the slave's bodies and
make them move like puppets. Only female lords lived at the castle where Run
and Carer escaped from.
Run's character grew tremendously
throughout the story as he learned to lead his people to safety, and as he
tried to deal with Carer distancing herself from him. He learned a lot about
himself and what kind of a man he wanted to be.
There was a lot of action in this
fast-paced novel with a fair number of fighting scenes between dragon and
human. These were well described and therefore easily visualized by the reader.
Fire Above
was an excellent and entertaining novel about human and dragon interaction.
This was a clean romance novel with few words of profanity. I gave this book 5
stars out of 5.
Thank you to the publishers for
providing a copy of the book in for a fair and honest review. A positive
opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.
About the Author
To young C. H. MacLean, books were
everything: mind-food, friends, and fun. They gave the shy middle child’s life
color and energy. Amazingly, not everyone saw them that way. Seeing a laundry
hamper full of books approach her, the librarian scolded C. H. for trying to check
them all out. “You'll never read that many before they expire!” C. H. was
surprised, having shown great restraint only by keeping a list of books to
check out next time. Thoroughly abashed, C. H. waited three whole days after
finishing that lot before going back for more.
With an internal world more vivid than the real one, C. H. was chastised for
reading in the library instead of going to class. “Neurotic, needs medical
help,” the teacher diagnosed. C. H.'s father, a psychologist, just laughed when
he heard. “She's just upset because those books are more challenging than her
class.” C. H. realized making up stories was just as fun as reading, and
harder to get caught doing. So for a while, C. H. crafted stories and
characters out of wisps and trinkets, with every toy growing an elaborate
personality.
But toys were not mature, and stories
weren't respectable for a family of doctors. So C. H. grew up and learned to
read serious books and study hard, shelving foolish fantasies for serious work.
Years passed in a black and white blur. Then, unpredictably falling in love all
the way to a magical marriage rattled C. H.'s orderly world. A crazy idea
slipped in a resulting crack and wouldn't leave. “Write the book you want to
read,” it said. “Write? As in, a fantasy novel? But I'm not creative,” C. H.
protested. The idea, and C. H.'s spouse, rolled their eyes.
So one day, C. H. started writing. Just to try it, not that it would go
anywhere. Big mistake. Decades of pent-up passion started pouring out, making a
mess of an orderly life. It only got worse. Soon, stories popped up everywhere-
in dreams, while exercising, or out of spite, in the middle of a work meeting.
“But it's not important work,” C. H. pleaded weakly. “They are not food, or
friends, or...” But it was too late. C. H. had re-discovered that, like books,
life should be fun too. Now, writing is a compulsion, and a calling.
C. H. lives in a Pacific Northwest forest with five pets, two kids, one spouse,
and absolutely no dragons or elves, faeries, or demons… that are willing to be
named, at least.
Thank you for being a part of the book tour and for reviewing Fire Above. I am glad to hear you enjoyed it.
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